This past weekend Comic Con invaded New York City for four awe-inspiring days of geekdom. And if you have ever been to Comic Con, you already know that there is more to NYCC than just comics. It is the one time out of the year when mere mortals such as ourselves can share the same roof as the heroes spanning from our childhood into today. Plus we can also dress up as our favorite characters and have people come up to us and ask for pictures.

While I do love a good comic book–and the Artists Alley is a sweet spot to check out the upcoming artists of tomorrow–my hunt consisted of meeting or snapping pictures of (you guessed it) professional wrestlers!

The first guy on my list was the Hardcore Legend himself Mick Foley, who was at Comic Con to sign covers of the new line of forthcoming WWE comic books published by Papercutz, which I believe he wrote some stories for, alongside comic book artist Jill Thompson–the very same woman who designed Daniel Bryan’s gear, YES! YES! YES!

Mick Foley with Jill Thompson at NYCC 2013

Now, Mick was assigned to that station for only 1 day! Seriously, Mick? One day? For only one hour. Unfortunately for myself, I was unable to get my copy of Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks signed because my girlfriend took ages to get ready (as do all women). By the time I got there the line for FREE autographs was closed. So all I could do, as the wrestling kid inside of me was heartbroken, was look on and watch as wrestling fans got to have their copies of Have a Nice Day and covers of the WWE comic books signed by Mick Foley.

Although, I did reach a level of stalker that I’m not too particularly proud of, but hell could you blame me? It was Mick “Fuck’n” Foley! He did catch my gaze as I looked on, and he politely smiled back and looked down. Then, my girl came back from the restroom clad in her Black Milk Star Wars gear, and the same guy–who was tossed over the roof of Hell in a Cell and crashed into the announce table below–checked out my girl and smiled.

Sorry Mick, she’s coming home with me… Have a Nice Day!

Next stop on the hunt was to find the Headlocked comic book station. For two years, the booth had eluded me but with the helpful NYCC app–available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store…lol–I was able to pin point the location and finally get my hands on the much talked about wrestling-based comic book!

Now if you don’t know about Headlocked, it was created by Michael Kingston and debuted in 2007. With the only known full issue featuring cover art by non-other than Jerry “The King” Lawler, and art work by Randy Valiente.

Sgt. Slaughter at NYCC 2013

For the price of $20, I was able to purchase a copy of Headlocked and get it signed by both Kingston and Lawler!

Now, Lawler didn’t seem too happy–unlike “The King” that we see cracking corny jokes every Monday Night on RAW. But I understand, sitting down in a single spot for 7+ hours would make anyone crabby. Regardless of the stern look he sent my way, I was still happy to be face to face with “The King of Memphis”. Thanks King.

And special thanks to Kingston, meeting the visionary and creator of a wrestling-based comic book was an honor. He gladly accepted my request for a photo opt and told me to come around the counter so we could take it in front of the Headlocked banner! – Wrestling Mark points at an all time high!

If you guys wish to get your hands on a copy or learn more about Headlocked, check out the official website – click here.

While roaming around the Con, I also got to see and take pictures of Sgt. Slaughter up close. The real life G.I. Joe had a replica of the NWA United States Heavyweight championship that he won twice during the early 80’s.

On my final day at Comic Con, while trying to get glimpses of the Sleepy Hollow cast (new show on Fox), and legendary teen-horror author R.L. Stine at the Autographing stations, we stumbled upon the line of the legendary Hulk Hogan.

HulkaMania was running semi-wild but it was still pretty wild, brother. And no, I refused (or should I say my wallet refused for me) to fork over $90 for a photo opt. Hulk Hogan may be a living wrestling legend and the most iconic figure in the wrestling world, but I’m still a wrestling fan on a budget.

The Living Legend Hulk Hogan at NYCC 2013

No one said anything as me, my girlfriend, and friends inched our way closer up the line of paying customers to snap photos of the Hulkster. Good thing too, or else it would have resulted in me pointing at them shouting NO!, scoop slamming them, and dropping a couple of Atomic Leg drops. But thankfully it did not come down to that.

After snapping 100 pictures of Hulk Hogan, we moved over to towards the Hollywood vehicles from the popular Ghost Busters, Back to the Future, and Batman movie franchises. Yes, we took pictures of Ernie Hudson, but I also did get to see former WWE Diva and Miss April 2007 Playboy model Ashley Massaro once again. (click on the tab “Meeting the Stars” at the top of this page to see my photo opt with Ashley two years prior).

Directly next to that booth was a jackpot of 80’s wrestling legends as Tito Santana, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and Andrew Anderson (who had a cameo in the 2008 drama The Wrestler) were signing autographs and taking pictures.

The guys put on a show as one pale-skinned Comic Con’er received a chop from Anderson, quickly resulting in a nice red hand printed tattoo. And a young talkative girl from the audience had her “non-PG” desires come true as she was able to lay her hands on Beefcake. Her two feeble attempts of laying the smackdown on Beefcake were met with, “Did she hit me yet?”

That was my experience of trials and tribulations of getting to meet the larger than life wrestling icons up close and sometimes too personal, again, sorry Mick. Overall, Comic Con was a lot of fun and hopefully next year I’ll finally get that copy of Have a Nice Day signed, and perhaps send some money over Sgt.’s way for a photo opt. How would that photo look like? Umm… being placed in the Cobra Clutch obviously.

Answer the Question: Did you go to NYCC this year? Did you meet any wrestlers?

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